Blood Stained Water
by Ithillian-Princess
Summary: A young man is wounded during the Battle of Omaha in WWII. He tries to continue on forthe friends he made, his baby girl, and wife back at home.


_Authors Note: This is a completely fictitious story based during the Battle of Omaha, any names or relations are purely coincidental. Enjoy :)_

Blood Stained Water

Waves crashed against the beach, crimson red stained it it washed away bodies, weapons, and anything else in its path. Sand flew in the air, falling on anything and everything, shouts of the commanding officer were drowned out by gun fires, and cries of pain, while field medics rushed around with morphine for the men surrounding Sergeant Thomas Elder. Gasping for breath, he gripped his rifle closer, and pushing a body aside, he struggled to his hands and knees. Elder grimaced when he saw the face of one of his comrades, Sergeant Davis, whom he had been fighting on the front with for the past year and a half. Looking around, he saw that Davis wasn't the only one, there were many members of his squadron lying around him, some already had breathed their last, while others still fought for life. Elder gave out a cry of pain, as another bullet flew out and hit his already wounded body. He collapsed, once again, to the sandy beach.  
Slowly, the shouts of men were drowned out by the sound of his own breathing, and nothing seamed real to him anymore. He looked at Davis, still lying next to him, dark brown eyes stared up into the gray sky, empty, no longer filled with laughter. Elder remembered back when he had first met him. Davis had had a family, a father and mother, a younger sister, a girlfriend waiting for him to come back home with a ring. So did almost all the men lying around Elder. They would never see their comfortable beds again, never taste warm biscuits in the morning, never wake up to a beautiful face each day. This had been the reality for most soldiers the past few years, some longer than others. Elder thought of his own wife, Mary, back at home. She was probably waiting for a letter. Maybe walking Sue, their four year old daughter, outside their small home.  
He was plunged back into reality as a grenade flew over his head, and landed with a _kerplop_ into the ocean, showering everyone with water. Pain was slowly spreading through his body, he tried to call out for help, but he couldn稚 form the words.

Again, he tried to pull himself to his feet, and almost immediately was greeted with a shower of bullets, narrowly missing him. He flattened himself to the ground, getting a mouth full of sand, and prayed he wasn稚 hit. He felt a warm liquid, sliding down the side of his face, from shards of rock hitting him. Two field medics ran by, pushing bodies over to check for signs of life. One knelt down next to Elder checking his wounds, but soon was called away by the other medic.

Elder had always considered the possibility of dying, everyone had. But considering it, and being the subject of it, were two very different things. He remembered six months back, when Private Mahoney had taken a shot to the head. They sent a telegram back to his wife, and seven kids. He tried not to imagine Mary痴 face if a military vehicle pulled up on Hester Street, and handed her a telegram that hundreds of family members received each week. He didn稚 want to think about what it would mean for his family, when they were handed a folded flag.  
Determined not to leave his family to fend for themselves, he once again hauled himself to his feet. He grabbed his rifle and took a few staggering steps. A third bullet hit him square in his arm. He felt his knees buckle and collapsing to the ground, then saw no more.  
Mary was in the small kitchen, overlooking Hester Street, washing up the few lunch dishes and humming to herself. It was a clear day in June, and the sun was shining brightly on the flowers in the small garden. Sue was sitting at the kitchen table coloring a picture. When Mary glanced over, she saw that it was of three clumsily drawn stick figures, each a different size, and each one bearing a caption; Mommy, Me, and Daddy. Mary smiled softly to herself and looked in the window sill behind the sink, of a more accurate picture of her husband, Thomas, in his uniform, taken just a few days before he left for Europe.

A dark green car, with a white star painted on one of the doors, drove up behind the picture of Thomas. Mary let the plate she was washing fall to the bottom of the sink with a ding. A tall man stepped out of the passenger seat, he was in a full pressed uniform, his head bowed, the visor of his hat covering his eyes.

Mary stumbled back, falling into a chair. Sue looked up at her mother痴 terrified face, and clambering out of her chair walked over and took her hand. Mary felt tears welling up in her eyes and starting to sting, she wrapped her arms around Sue and held onto her. For what felt like an eternity, they sat in the kitchen, listening to the birds fluttering around outside, and the water falling down the sink, until finally, they heard two raps on the door.

Mary swallowed hard and finally stood up. She walked slowly out of the kitchen, and into the living room, where she and Thomas had spent many nights dancing to the radio, reading together, or simply sitting on the couch with their arms around each other, listening to the crickets chirp outside. She walked past the wall covered in pictures of her and Thomas, and into the entry. She could see the faint outline of a man behind the glass, Mary tried to control her breathing as she opened the door.  
A strange man stood there, he took off his hat, and nodded at her in acknowledgment,  
"Just anted to make sure he got home safely, ma'am.

Stepping aside, he revealed a bruised and bandaged man, with one arm in a sling, looking back at her. And Mary saw for the first time in almost two years, Sergeant Thomas Elder.

_I hope you enjoyed! There may be a complete story to follow...But that depends on how many people like this little blurb, thanks so much for reading!_


End file.
